The sheriff’s office has an open-door policy for the entire command staff, Johnson said.

“So if somebody wants to complain on an officer and I’m out of town, the chief deputy, the major over law enforcement, the captain over law enforcement, can take that complaint,” Johnson said. “You don’t have to give your name but we do need enough information so we can contact you back and let you know the status of your complaint against the officer.”

The process of filing a complaint starts with completing an incident report, which can be done anonymously, according to Johnson. The supervisor investigates and, if substantiated, the matter may move up to the Internal Affairs Unit, he said.

“Whatever punishment is due we deal it out all the way up to termination,” Johnson said. “We take it seriously, and if they’re not performing their job as they’re supposed to, that’s a bad reflection on law enforcement (and) the sheriff’s office in general, and we’re not going to tolerate that.”